When vehicles or individuals go missing in terrain or sea, search and rescue (SAR) procedures may be employed by aircraft, watercraft, and ground based vehicles, to systematically search the area. Compared to ground based vehicles, aircraft can visually search large areas of terrain or sea that is remote or difficult to navigate while dealing with inclement weather.
In order to adapt SAR patterns to the unique search area and its terrain and weather, typically, the pilot is tasked with modifying the search pattern to maximize search efficiency. Not only does this take time, but it distracts the pilot and leads to mistakes or missed areas while the pilot is modifying the SAR pattern. Furthermore, conventional methods for modifying a SAR pattern are not intuitive. For example, once SAR patterns are inserted into a flight management system (FMS), pilots can only make very limited changes to modify the pattern such as adjusting the speed, initial leg length, space, or turn direction. This poses certain restrictions while executing the SAR mission such as when the weather changes or when visibility or the terrain necessitates a change in individual leg of a chosen SAR pattern.
Furthermore, conventional systems do not suggest a suitable SAR pattern and parameters for a successful completion of the mission. Currently, pilots choose among the existing SAR patterns based on the information provided to them about the SAR mission and their prior experience. While experience is extremely valuable, no pilot can consider all the information available for the SAR mission such as current weather including the visibility, terrain conditions, and flight parameters of the aircraft itself. For example, visibility is extremely important for spotting the targets of the SAR mission. Changing visibility, prevailing fog, and smog conditions would adversely impact the SAR mission and therefore need to be considered when selecting the SAR pattern and when flying the SAR pattern during the SAR mission.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method for a SAR pattern for an aircraft. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the exemplary embodiments will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.